LEXI'S DYE GARDEN

A message from Lexi about her Dye Garden..a fantastic way of using local resources for materials.

"Originally the dye garden was planned to be planted in the Autumn ready to begin harvesting next Summer but with this project happening it seemed perfect to incorporate locally grown plants for some of the wool dye so I've been digging a lot!  And as you can see there is still lots more digging to do, the allotment had been unused for a few years before I was allocated it last Autumn so the area for the dye plants was/is full of nettle and bramble etc.

Pictured are a few of the plants that I've gathered ready to put in over the next few weeks - chamomile, marigold, rhubarb, dhalias etc.  It will take a long time to build the garden up, and some of the plants won't be ready in time to harvest for this project so I am planning to put annual seeds down over large areas of the ground over the next few weeks and hopefully if the weather is kind there will be a lovely crop of flowers to harvest in a couple of months time for the dyes, and you will be able to see the garden grow and take shape.

I'll also be gathering from around the local area, bracken for example gives a lovely olive green dye, and nettles different shades of green as the summer progresses.

I'll be posting some pictures up of the plants when I gather them and some pictures of the dye sessions so you will be able to see some of the colours these plants produce as a dye."